Sarah Farwell is a current student in the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s MAA/MBA Arts Administration graduate program. Sarah is a recent graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Business. While at Drake, Sarah performed for four years in the Wind Symphony, Drake’s premier wind ensemble, and was featured as principal saxophone. She also participated in jazz ensembles and was a member of Omasum Saxophone Quartet, a select chamber group that played together for four years. Sarah is an alumna of Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI), the professional women’s music fraternity on campus. As a member of SAI, Sarah served on the executive committee, chaired the annual fundraiser campaign for two consecutive years, and was the 2021-2022 recipient of SAI’s Music Business/Technology Scholarship for Undergraduate and Graduate Students.

Sarah was fortunate to gain experience in the world of arts nonprofits through internship experience. She was invited by an adjunct professor to participate in a Student Business Manager position at Station 1 Records. Here, Sarah applied knowledge from independent grant-writing coursework to complete a successful grant application to the Iowa Arts Council, receiving full funding for the internship program. Sarah then compounded her non-profit knowledgebase with the Civic Music Association (CMA). As CMA’s Senior Intern, Sarah managed a foundation-sponsored string quartet summer series amid unprecedented organizational turnover, led event logistics for quartet as well as regular season concerts, directly served patrons and donors, created and implemented an intern-training program, and ran the box office for CMA’s 97th concert season. Through these internships, Sarah has developed skills to support her passion for community building, music education, and enhancing arts ecosystems.

Sarah is thrilled to be part of the team and support Cincinnati Song Initiative’s mission as Development Associate.